Before I get into this, Ruffy Biazon, a man I truly admire and respect, pointed out the inconsistency of people who defended Mideo Cruz for blaspheming Jesus Christ and then proceeded to assail James Soriano for “blaspheming” the Filipino language, as it were, during Buwan ng Wika itself.

Allow me to demonstrate my consistency on these matters.

Okay. That’s settled.

That being said, in an article yesterday, obvious Atenean James Soriano discussed Filipino as a language in a less than flattering light. This article has been taken down by Manila Bulletin already, but I found a cache of the article thanks to some of my friends. Allow me to preface this by pointing out I am writing in English right now, so no, I am not going to get into a blind Patriotic Filipino® rage and make a sacred cow of our language. That completely defeats the purpose of opening this discussion, and reeks of hypocrisy in light of the impassioned defense against Mideo’s right to blaspheme. Our language is not immune to criticism, but then, neither is Mr. Soriano’s argument. This is also why I was disappointed that the article was taken down. It has engendered discussion on the role of language in one’s life, and I personally believe this is a good thing that shouldn’t have been stifled.

I believe that the sticking point to most people who are indignant over the article was the notion that “Filipino is not the language of the learned.” It reeks of intellectual elitism and privilege, which, to Mr. Soriano’s credit, he never once denied.

It’s just that… nobody really understood what he was trying to get across, and the onus was on him to have chosen his words carefully and concisely to do so, since it was his article, and name-dropping Fr. Bulatao just because he can just feels like such a predictable thing a typical pretentious pseudo-intellectual Arrnean would do.

Mr. James Soriano, the language of the learned isn’t English, Filipino, Cebuano, French, Spanish, Latin, whale, Klingon, or anything else of the sort. The language of the learned is well thought out. The language of the learned is characterized by one’s deliberate choice of words, regardless if those words are uttered in English, Filipino, Cebuano, French, Spanish, Latin, whale, Klingon, or anything else of the sort.

I bear no ill will towards you, not just because I believe you are entitled to your opinion, but simply because your upbringing likewise prevents you from truly expressing yourself in Filipino in a manner that you could deem as “educated.” Which is why ultimately, your via negativa thesis statement should have been “Filipino is not the language of my education.”

There will be others who will learn and can only learn primarily through Filipino. Or English. Or any other language. The choice of the language itself does not dictate whether or not it is learned or civilized. It is the exercise of choosing the words carefully and then expressing them clearly and concisely that dictates how learned one actually is.

Thus, to dissociate myself from people who disagree with Mr. Soriano solely on the basis of him dissing our national language instead of disagreeing with him on the universality of his statements, I would like to point out that saying “P****g i*a mo, James Soriano, bakla ka, mamatay ka na!” is no more or less learned than saying “F**k you, James Soriano, you’re a f****t, go die in a fire.”

In both cases, you are being a boor who lets your feelings get the better of you instead of responding to the issue the way a learned person actually would.

And really now, being learned has little to do with where you graduated from or how much money you make. It has much more to do with your own temperament and the way you choose to respond to situations. Heaven knows a lifestyle of privilege didn’t give Mr. Soriano the perspective to understand how the learned could very well express themselves in Filipino if they choose to do so.

Language will always have its limitations with the built-in capacity for growth. We realize that every time we add a new word to the dictionary the way “Tweeting” and “bromance” have been added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary this year. As such, no single language would have a monopoly on learnedness. We heard this before during the middle ages when they believed only Latin speakers were educated. We really shouldn’t be making the same mistake again.

I do not resent you one bit, Mr. James Soriano, nor do I pity you. I believe you are learned enough to realize that your life experience and your privilege is not enough perspective for you to cast your net so wide in your attempt to speak for everyone.

ADDENDUM: In light of Mr. Soriano’s sister’s attempt to play the satire card in Tumblr, I would like to point out that even if someone writes poorly to emphasize an ironic point about one’s mastery of the language, it doesn’t make it any less agonizing to read, precisely because it is poorly written.

Furthermore, his article has since been republished on the Manila Bulletin here. He has also written a new article that addresses the troll responses against him, but none of the actual arguments against his initial assessment that “Filipino is not the language of the learned.”

DISCLAIMER: The opinions in this post do not necessarily represent the position of the Filipino Freethinkers.

Here in the Philippines, the Tagalists, K.W.F., and Imperial Manila are pushing the extinction of several Philippine indigenous minority languages, and the slow but certain displacement of other Philippine regional languages. All because of Tagalog language-centrism, and Imperial Manila! So, K.W.F. what are you doing about this?

Many words of daily use are not part of Pilipino vocabulary, so sometimes half the words or some complete phrases are taken in English. When watching international news (CNN, BBC) in Europe with life coverage of the hotel Peninsula siege of Trillianes, BBC and CNN hooked on to the local GMA news coverage with their mix of English and Pilipino words – which totally confused the foreign journalist “now they translate into English” now they speak tagalong again … not knowing that this mix-up is the usual way of Pilipino speaking

English is the global language, most publications in science are in English, If you want to get news (TV, papers) abroad you find some English staff to stay informed, if you don’t understand a local in a foreign country you reply in English not in German, Tagalog, Klingon …..

Without having read the original piece from Mr. Soriano with details could it be he has a point: English is the global language and informed people read and speak English, when using scientist, business and banking terms you have to use English because native Tagalong is just missing most/all of those vocabulary.

Certainly, if we took merely that thesis, then yes Mr. Soriano would have a point: we choose to use English or Filipino for specific purposes. The problem is, it was written in a condescending manner that came from a distinct lack of perspective.

I'd be the last person to dispute the need for English in this day and age. What I would dispute, though, is when Mr. Soriano said "Filipino is not the language of the learned." My belief is that the learned will speak in whatever language they choose to, but will do so in a manner that is learned.

Ergo, I believe that the language of the learned is not so much English or Filipino or another language, but the very manner this English or Filipino or other language is utilized by the person.

First as German I am not a Pilipino speaker, so from an different point of view …… at least (most of) your writing in Pilipino could be translated with Google, which is very rare as whenever I try to follow some comments/blogs the translation result is utter gibberish and half of the words (a) does not exists (b) are wrong spelled or (c) are not know from Google translation dictionary (which I doubt on that big scale).

Just throwing in some other thoughts:

In the R of P it seems to be ‘en vogue’ to speak English, to show off that someone was travelling or working abroad (even as toilet cleaner) is someone better therefore.
The official government language (for documents) is English and many people can speak at least some English, which is an advantage and a reason to stay here and not somewhere else, advantage for tourism, BPO companies, OFW’s.
I was working for decades in international projects and project language is English, not the local language of the country or the head office.